Paradisal Love: Johann Gottfried Herder and the Song of Songs (JSOT Supplement)

JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT SUPPLEMENT SERIES

298

Editors David J.A. Clines Philip R. Davies Executive Editor John Jarick Editorial Board Robert P. Carroll, Richard J. Coggins, Alan Cooper, J. Cheryl Exum, John Goldingay, Robert P. Gordon, Norman K. Gottwald, Andrew D.H. Mayes, Carol Meyers, Patrick D. Miller

Sheffield Academic Press

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Paradisal Love Johann Gottfried Herder and

the Song of Songs

John D. Baildam

Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 298

Copyright © 1999 Sheffield Academic Press Published by Sheffield Academic Press Ltd Mansion House 19 Kingfield Road Sheffield SI 19AS England

Typeset by Sheffield Academic Press and Printed on acid-free paper in Great Britain by Biddies Guildford, Surrey

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 1-84127-022-9

CONTENTS Preface Acknowledgments Abbreviations

9 12 13

INTRODUCTION Purpose and Methodology The State of the Manuscripts Herder and the Hebrew Text The General Context

15 24 34 35

Chapter 1

HERDER' sPREOCCUPATION WITH THE SONG OF SONGS

39

Chapter 2

HERDER'S APPROACH TO POETRY AND THE BIBLE: ITS SIGNIFICANCE FOR THE SONG OF SONGS Introduction Herder's Reception of Contemporary Philosophies Herder's View of German Poetry Herder's Reception of Shakespeare and Ossian Herder's View of Homer and the Greeks Herder's View of 'True' Poetry Herder's Call for a Renaissance of German Poetry Herder's Reception of the Bible Herder's Reception of Hebrew Poetry

54 54 55 65 70 75 81 85 90 97

Chapter 3

HERDER AS TRANSLATOR: A THEORETICAL CONTEXT FOR LIEDER DER LlEBE

102

Introduction Critical Approaches

102 103

Paradisal Love

6

Approaches from Translation Theories Herder's Theories of Language Herder's Theories of Translation

108 113 115

Chapter 4

HERDER'S RECEPTION OF THE SONG OF SONGS: A COMPARISON WITH OTHER INTERPRETATIVE APPROACHES Introduction Title, Authorship and Date Canonicity Jewish and Christian Interpretations The Song of Songs as Drama Literal Interpretations Contemporary Interpretations Other Translations of the Song of Songs

127 127 134 139 142 155 158 162 167

Chapter 5

HERDER'S INTERPRETATION OF THE SONG OF SONGS Introduction Commentary

173 173 180

Chapter 6

HERDER'S TRANSLATIONS OF THE SONG OF SONGS Introduction Luther's Translation Goethe's Translation Herder's Translations Commentary

214 214 215 218 221 235

CONCLUSION

The Reception of Lieder der Liebe Concluding Summary

294 302

Appendix A

HERDER' s TRANSLATIONS OF THE SONG OF SONGS

306

Appendix B

LUTHER' s TRANSLATION OF THE SONG OF SONGS

322

Contents

1

Appendix C

GOETHE' s TRANSLATION OF THE SONG OF SONGS

328

Bibliography

333

Index of References Index of Names

362 365

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PREFACE

This work claims to be the first comprehensive published study of the preoccupation of Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803) with the Song of Songs; it considers the work's importance in his thinking, and examines in detail his commentaries and translations of 1776 and 1778. The book argues that, despite Herder's claims to the contrary, his own cultural position is revealed in his translations and in his unique interpretation of the work as the voice of pure, paradisal love. The Introduction states the need for this study, and describes the methodology used. Chapter 1 examines Herder's interest in the Song of Songs between 1765 and 1778. Chapter 2 puts his reflections into the wider context of his relativistic views on the nature of poetry, on contemporary German culture, and on the importance of primitive poetry in general and the poetry of the Bible in particular. Chapter 3 considers certain current literary-critical theories which have implications for Herder's translations of these 'Lieder der Liebe' ('Songs of Love'), as he entitled his published translation of 1778. Herder's theories of language and translation are discussed, using other German translation theories as a touchstone. Chapter 4 discusses Herder's reading of the book as the most primitive, natural and sublime example of Hebrew poetry, placing it in the context of earlier and contemporary interpretations. His opinion of other translations is examined, including the Middle High German text appended to his own work. Chapter 5 appraises Herder's commentaries, analysing how the points which emerge reflect his overall concept of the work. Chapter 6 focuses on his translations, comparing them with each other, with the Lutheran text to which Herder ultimately directed his readership, and with the Hebrew text. Where appropriate, Goethe's translation is referred to as one example of several contemporary translations. The Conclusion examines the reception of Herder's work. The three appendices consist of a parallel presentation of Herder's translations of 1776 and 1778, Luther's translation of 1545, and Goethe's translation of 1775.

10

Paradisal Love

Given that the original dissertation used as a basis for this study was prepared within the discipline of German Literature rather than Old Testament Studies, all quotations from German were given in the original language only, maintaining the orthography used by the relevant author.1 As this present work is intended for a readership wider than those with an interest in Germanic Studies, I have endeavoured to provide my own English translations of all German quotations used. Nevertheless, I have also insisted on maintaining the original throughout, both in order to satisfy the Germanist, and as otherwise the argument would be weakened linguistically. My translations are in no way intended to be definitive or of literary value, but are there merely to aid the reader.2 I am well aware that I run the risk of being accused—like Herder—of translating according to my own reader response and my own cultural background, but the point of my translations is purely to be supportive of the reader. Indeed, if any reader is offended by my translations, then permit me to adopt Luther's challenge concerning his own translation of the New Testament: 'Es ist niemand verboten, ein bessers zu machen. Wer's nicht lesen will, der laB es liegen.'3 Unless a supporting footnote has proved necessary, my translations of quotations of approximately one line or less are included parenthetically within the body of the text. My translations of longer quotations and block quotations are given in a footnote. It is hoped that this method will facilitate reading. I have not translated the Appendices, which contain translations of the Song of Songs by Herder, Luther and Goethe, nor have I translated the Lutheran text used on a verse-by-verse basis to aid presentation in Chapter 6. 1. Readers of German should bear this point in mind when noting differences between current orthography and that of Luther and Herder, for example. 2. In this regard, I look for support from Ernest A. Menze and Karl Menges who maintain that 'for a translator Herder's prose is treacherous ground with spiked pitfalls. His style of expression seems at times to defy English rendering' (Johann Gottfried Herder: Selected Early Works 1764-1767. Addresses, Essays, and Drafts; 'Fragments on Recent German Literature' [trans. Ernest A. Menze with Michael Palma; University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1992], p. viii). I suspect that Herder's poetry represents no less treacherous ground. 3. 'Nobody is forbidden from making a better one. Whoever does not wish to read it, let him leave it be.' Quoted in Douglas Robinson, The Translator's Turn (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991), p. 72. Interestingly, as we shall see in Chapter 1 of this study, Herder encouraged his readers to turn to Luther should they find his own translation of the Song of Songs inadequate.

Preface

11

References throughout this study to Herders Sdmmtliche Werke, edited by Bernhard Suphan (5WS), are to volume and page numbers. They are given parenthetically within the body of the text after the abbreviation as listed for the appropriate work, where to omit it would be unclear. I have maintained the orthography of SWS, except in Appendix A which follows MS(3) of 1776 and the published translation of 1778.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This monograph is based on a dissertation which was accepted in 1994 by the University of London for the degree of PhD in German. Thanks and appreciation are due to many individuals, all of whom in one way or another made a contribution towards the writing of the dissertation; I mention just a few. Deep gratitude is due to Mrs Dorothy Reich, formerly of Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, University of London, who was so willing to interrupt her retirement to act as my supervisor until ill-health forced her to relinquish the task in the autumn of 1991. Her enthusiasm greatly supported my own interest in the topic. I wish to express particular appreciation to Mrs Joyce Crick, formerly of University College London, who agreed so readily to assume the responsibilities of supervisor. I have learned much from her and hope that something of that learning is reflected in the following pages. Special thanks go to Dr Kenneth Newport, of Liverpool Hope University, for his constant interest and encouragement. I would also like to thank Professor Bill Jones of Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, University of London, for his encouragement and support. Over a number of years I have also appreciated greatly the constant encouragement and support of friends and colleagues at Newbold College, Bracknell. Finally, my loving thanks go to my wife Lynda, who, patiently, and without complaint, spent countless lonely hours selflessly permitting me to devote my thoughts to another.

ABBREVIATIONS

Works by Herder The works below are cited from Bernhard Suphan (ed.), Herders Sdmmtliche Werke (33 vols.; Berlin: Weidmann, 1877-1913), abbreviated throughout to SWS. These abbreviations are always given with the appropriate SWS volume and page references. AD AK AM AP AU AV BH BL BT DL DR

EE EP FS HR

IP JR KW LD LL TB

Adrarfea(1801-1802) Von deutscherArt und Kunst (1773) Fragmente zu einer Archdologie des Morgenlandes (1769) Auch eine Philosophie der Geschichte zur Bildung der Menschheit (1774) Alteste Urkunde des Menschengeschlechts (1774-76) Alte Volkslieder (1114) Briefe zu Beforderung der Humanitdt (1793-97) Fragment tiber die beste Leitung eines jungen Genies zu den Schdtzen der Dichtkunst (1795) Briefe an Theophron (1780) Uber die neuere deutsche Litteratur. Fragmente (1767) Recension of Johann N.C. Michael Denis's Die Gedichte Ossians eines alien celtischen Dichters, aus dem Englischen ubersetzt (llll) Vom Erkennen und Empfinden der menschlichen Seele. Bemerkungen und Trdume (1778) Vom Geist der Ebrdischen Poesie (1782-83) Ueber den Fleifi in mehreren gelehrten Sprachen (1764) Recension of Christian Gottfried Base's Versuch einer richtigern Auslegung des Hohenliedes Salomonis, worin das zuverldflige, schone und gottliche dieses heiligen Bucks gezeiget wird (1765) Ideen zur Philosophie der Geschichte der Menschheit (178491) Journal meiner Reise im Jahre 1769 (1769) Kritische Wdlder (1169) Versuch einer Geschichte der lyrischen Dichtkunst (1764) Lieder der Liebe (1778) Briefe, das Studium der Theologie betreffend(1780-81)

14

TS UG US VA VL WD ZB

Paradisal Love Terpsichore (1795-96) Ursachen des gesunknen Geschmacks bei den verschiednen Volkern, da er gebliihet (1775) Abhandlung tiber den Ursprung der Sprache (1772) Von Ahnlichkeit der mittlern englischen und deutschen Dichtkunst (1777) Volkslieder( 1778-79) Ueber die Wurkung der Dichtkunst aufdie Sitten der Volker in alien und neuen Zeiten (1778) Zerstreute Blatter (1785-97) Journals

DVjs GLL GR JEGP JHI MLQ MLR MP PMLA VT

Deutsche Vierteljahrsschrift fiir Literaturwissenschaft und Geistesgeschichte German Life and Letters Germanic Review Journal of English and Germanic Philology Journal of the History of Ideas Modern Language Quarterly Modern Language Review Modern Philology Publications of the Modern Language Association of America Vetus Testamentum Others

AB ADB GNB IB KJV NEB

PC PL RSV WKG

WKGB WW

Anchor Bible Allgemeine Deutsche Bibliothek Good News Bible Interpreter's Bible King James Version New English Bible J.-P. Migne (ed.), Patrologia cursus completus... Series graeca (166 vols.; Paris; Petit-Montrouge, 1857-83) J.-P. Migne (ed.), Patrologia cursus completus... Seriesprima [latina] (221 vols.; Paris; J.-P. Migne, 1844-65) Revised Standard Version Martin Luther, Werke: Kritische Gesamtausgabe (64 vols.; Weimar: Bohlau, 1883-; repr. Weimar: Bohlau; Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1964-) Martin Luther, Werke: Kritische Gesamtausgabe—Die Deutsche Bibel (12 vols.; Weimar: Bohlau, 1906-61) Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Werke (50 vols.; Weimar: Bohlau, 1887-1900)

INTRODUCTION

Purpose and Methodology Hermann Hettner claims that Herder's Lieder der Liebe represents 'das Zarteste, was Herder jemals geschrieben hat. Nie betatigt sich die feine dichterische Nachempfindung und Nachbildung Herders herrlicher als hier in dieser Ubersetzung der tiefempfundenen altmorgenlandischen Minnegesange'.1 Yet, although work had been done on Herder's views on language and poetry, as well as on his work as a biblical scholar, my dissertation upon which this book is based, submitted in the two-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary of Herder's birth, was the first critical and analytical consideration of any substance that had been given to his interest in the Song of Songs. Secondary writers such as Hettner had hinted briefly en passant at the importance of his Lieder der Liebe, but nobody had yet produced a comprehensive study of it. This is surprising, given Herder's view that the Song of Songs was the epitome of that poetry which he regarded as representing God's foremost revelation to mankind, and given the regard in which he held it in his endeavours to use it as a catalyst for the improvement of his own native poetry. Apart from various manuscript drafts in Herder's Nachlaft ('unpublished works'), the major base texts used in this study are the unpublished Lieder der Liebe. Ein Biblisches Buck. Nebst zwo Zugaben of 1776 (reprinted by Carl Redlich in SWS, VIII, pp. 589-658), and the version published in Leipzig in 1778 as Lieder der Liebe. Die dltesten und schonsten aus Morgenlande. Nebst vier und vierzig alien Minneliedern (reprinted by Redlich in SWS, VIII, pp. 485-588). After examining Herder's preoccupation with the Song of Songs

1. 'The tenderest thing that Herder ever wrote. Nowhere are Herder's delicate poetic sympathy and imitation manifested more splendidly than here in this translation of deeply experienced ancient Oriental love songs.' Geschichte der deutschen Literatur im achtzehnten Jahrhundert (2 vols.; Berlin: Aufbau-Verlag, 1961), II, p. 35.

16

Paradisal Love

between 1765 and 1778, I place his Lieder der Liebe within the wellknown context of his views on poetry in general and German poetry in particular. I then undertake an examination of certain current literary critical theories, as well as Herder's own theories of language and translation, thus providing a new theoretical context for an understanding of Herder's work on the Song of Songs. The study then provides a new analysis of Herder's interpretation within the context of other earlier and contemporary readings of the Song of Songs, before presenting for the first time an analysis of his commentaries. This is of particular importance, if we accept the premise that translation and interpretation (for such is commentary) are inextricably linked. It is, of course, usual for translators to translate without providing a commentary of any kind. If one is given, it is almost invariably separate from the translation itself. Possibly Herder was unique in arbitrarily dividing his translations into sections and interspersing them with paragraphs of commentary, thereby acknowledging the dependence of translation upon interpretation. This study further underlines Herder's abundant use in his commentaries of the travel-writers of his age, and represents a careful reading of the original editions to which Herder specifically referred in Lieder der Liebe. Although reference is made to these writers in Ulrich Gaier's edition commented upon below, this is the first time that Herder's borrowings have been used extensively as analytic tools. Although Herder claimed to have attempted to leave the Song of Songs within its own Sitz im Leben21 seek in this study to demonstrate that, despite his insistence on the difference and distinction of Oriental poetry, Herder's commentaries and translations were inevitably coloured by the poetic idiom of his own time and place. They were imbued with the emotional attitudes which belong to 'Empfindsamkeit' ('sentimentality') and 'Sturm und Drang' ('Storm and Stress'), with elements of folk-song,3 and an idealizing, chaste view of love.4 In other words, 2. This expression is used in theological writing when referring to the original historical, geographical and cultural significance of a text. Given Herder's claims that he attempted to leave the Song of Songs within its own original context, this theological expression is most appropriate, even in a literary study, and I use it throughout. 3. Francis Landy notes the repetition typical of folk-song in the Song of Songs, commenting particularly on the folkloristic associations of the repetition in the little foxes poem (Song 2.15). See Paradoxes of Paradise: Identity and Difference in the

Introduction

17

although Herder argued that each culture was unique, yet may be penetrated by 'Einfiihlung' or empathy—a key notion of his hermeneutics— and a thorough knowledge of the cultural background, his own cultural position is revealed by the choices he made in his interpretation and translations, and by his own overt reading of the original text. This study also provides the first detailed comparison with each other of Herder's attempts to translate the Song of Songs in 1776 and 1778. Furthermore, it represents the first detailed comparison between the translations of Herder and that of Martin Luther, to whom Herder ultimately pointed his readers.5 Herder praised Luther's translation, indicating that, in the last resort, his own efforts failed to satisfy him as much, yet he was breaking new ground in challenging Luther's text. For this reason, we must consider the details of Luther's translation as a touchstone, examining the extent to which Herder was dependent upon it in his own translations. This study also claims to be the first to include comparisons between the Hebrew text and the German translations under discussion, wherever it is illuminating or decisive to do so. This will additionally afford an opportunity to consider the extent to which Herder followed the original poetry in his translations. I have selected Goethe's translation as a contemporary one deserving comparison, since his development as a lyric poet was hastened by his reception of Herder's teaching about the nature of poetry and poetic language. He was driven to put Herder's theories into practice, and thus Song of Songs (Sheffield: Almond Press, 1983), p. 48-49 and p. 289 n. 59. 4. See Edward Said's view in Orientalism: Western Conceptions of the Orient (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1991) that European images of the Orient are ideologically loaded (see especially pp. 278, 279, 308-309 and 321-25). Said's examples, of course, are taken mainly from writing later than that of Herder. 5. Luther's translations Das Hohe Lied Salomo (1524), and Das Hohelied Salomo (1545), are in WKGB, X/2, pp. 134-47. A printing of the translation entitled '.. .Stark wie der Tod' ('As Strong as Death') is given in Hermann Timm (ed.), Das Hohe Lied Salomos: Nachdichtungen und Ubersetzungen aus sieben Jahrhunderten (Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag, 1982), pp. 67-77'. Luther's Latin commentary, Vorlesung tiber das Hohelied: In Cantica Canticorum brevis, sed admodum dilucida enarratio, is in WKG, XXXI/2, pp. 586-769, and an English translation by Ian Siggins, Lectures on the Song of Solomon: A Brief but Altogether Lucid Commentary on the Song of Songs, is in Jaroslav Pelikan and Helmut T. Lehmann (eds.), Luther's Works (55 vols.; St Louis: Concordia Publishing House, vols. 1-29; and Philadelphia: Fortress Press, vols. 30-54, n.d.), XV, pp. 189-264.

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I have used his translation—or version?—as a point of reference. I also give consideration throughout to the mediaeval translation of the Song of Songs which Herder prized as springing from a stage in the development of German poetry and poetic language comparable with the flowering of Hebrew poetry in the time of Solomon. Both the final unpublished draft translation of 1776 and the published translation of 1778 are printed side by side in columns in Appendix A. This will facilitate comparison of the two versions, allowing the reader also to note the importance of the differing appearance of each translation on the page. Appendix B reproduces Luther's translation of 1545 and Appendix C reproduces Goethe's translation of 1775. The extensive Bibliography provides full details of those works which provide general biographical information about Herder, as well as those which document his preoccupation with folk-song, poetry, translation and biblical criticism. Such works demonstrate that many have referred very briefly to Herder's work on the Song of Songs, but such was not the major thrust of their contribution. Apart from such brief comments in the many studies of Herder, and excluding those who have edited Lieder der Liebe per se, those who discuss Herder and the Song of Songs in any detail are Rudolf Haym in his two-volume biography of 1877-85; Paul Haupt in 1907; Robert T. Clark in 1946 and 1955; Andreas F. Kelletat in 1984; and Helmut Mueller-Sievers and Emil Adler in 1990. Full details are given in the Bibliography. The title of Haupt's work, Biblische Liebeslieder: Das sogenannte Hohelied Salomos unter steter Berucksichtigung der Ubersetzungen Goethes und Herders ('Biblical Love Songs: The So-called Song of Solomon, with Constant Reference to the Translations of Goethe and Herder') would suggest some overlap with this study, but in fact Haupt's main purpose was to produce his own heavily annotated translation of the Song of Songs, at the end of which he sought to include a commentary to rationalize his own renderings. He certainly makes occasional references to Goethe and Herder, but these hardly represent the 'stete Beriicksichtigung' ('constant reference') of the full title. Comments on Haupt will be made where appropriate. I shall also consider Clark's work at various points below, although I do not accept all his findings. Indeed, although his work is of general contextual interest, Clark claimed no competence to judge the relative

Introduction

19

linguistic merits of the translations of Herder and Luther.6 Our attention now turns to those who have edited Lieder der Liebe. Apart from the publication of 1778 and the subsequent reprint in 1781, the work was placed in the fourth volume of works on religion and theology in Johann Georg Miiller's edition of Herder's works in 1778. It then disappeared until Redlich's contribution in the eighth volume of Suphan's edition in 1892. This is the base edition for this study. One year later Heinrich Meyer's ten-volume edition of Herder's Werke was published in the series Deutsche National-Litteratur, edited by Joseph Kiirschner (Stuttgart: Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft, 1893). The very first volume of Herder's works (vol. LXXIV/1 of the whole series) contains Lieder der Liebe. After an introduction, Meyer (pp. 31-118) gives the published version of 1778. In an appendix (pp. 119-34) he includes only the translation of the 1776 version given by Redlich, omitting the commentary. Meyer's aim was to illustrate the development of Herder's style and art of poetic reproduction. He regretted being unable to offer pieces from the oldest rhyming versions, but included also Herder's translations of Psalms 8, 18, 23, 72, 121 and 126, and the Song of Lamech. He also omitted the Middle High German translation, except for the first four poems included in his introduction (pp. 7-10). Just as we note great interest in the Song of Songs around the time of Herder's own preoccupation with it, we find recent interest in the editing of Herder's work, demonstrated by the appearance of three editions between 1987 and 1992. After a gap of almost a century, an edition of Lieder der Liebe appeared in 1987, 'herausgegeben von Johann Gottfried Herder' ('edited by Johann Gottfried Herder') and published by the Franz Greno Verlag in Nordlingen. With some modernization of orthography, all three parts of the 1778 publication are reproduced. There is a very brief introduction by an anonymous sub-editor, and the bibliography includes just 12 titles, the most recent of which is Emil Adler's Herder und die deutsche Aufkldrung (Vienna and Frankfurt am Main: Europa Verlag, 1968). The most important edition of Lieder der Liebe since Meyer's edition of 1893 is without doubt that of Ulrich Gaier. This forms part of Volkslieder, Ubertragungen, Dichtungen, edited by Gaier (Bibliothek deutscher Klassiker, 60; Frankfurt am Main: Deutscher Klassiker Verlag, 6. See 'Herder, Percy, and the Song of Songs', PMLA 61 (1946), pp. 10871100(1099).

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1990). It represents the third volume in a ten-volume edition of Herder's Werke, edited by Martin Bollacher and others. Gaier (p. 1209) states that his text 'folgt dem Druck Leipzig 1778: Abweichungen zur Korrektur von Druckfehlern (wobei ich Redlich nicht immer folge) sind im Kommentar vermerkt'.7 In fact, Gaier has modernized the orthography considerably (for example, 'Zeder' for 'Ceder', 'siiB' for 'suss' and 'sei' for 'sey'); one four-line stanza is given as two couplets; and there is a misreading of the text which I comment on below. Gaier reproduces Herder's text (pp. 431-521), although he does not include any of the material from 1776 examined in this study, nor does he include the Middle High German translation which formed the final part of Herder's publication.8 Gaier's editorial comments (pp. 1199-263) are more copious and informative than those given by Redlich, but it must be stressed that Gaier's is merely an important edition. It is replete with information, and as such is helpful. However, by no means does it offer the interpretative and critical analysis of this present study, nor does it offer a comparative study of the translations. Gaier's edition contains information which is readily accessible elsewhere, although his strength is that he has synthesized it relevantly. Necessary points of information will be repeated in this work too, although this is inevitable given their fundamental importance to the area of study. For example, various exponents of the allegorical interpretation (see Chapter 4 of this study) are mentioned in Gaier too, although without analysis. Much of Gaier's information is of the kind already available for the English reader in Clark, for example, or for the German reader in Haym. It is not analysed, criticized nor contextualized.

7. 'Follows the Leipzig printing of 1778: departures from the correction of printing errors (where I do not always follow Redlich) are noted in the commentary.' 8. Claiming lack of space as his reason for omitting the section of Lieder der Liebe containing the mediaeval text, Gaier regrets that 'unberiicksichtigt muBte auch die interessante 1. Fassung von 1776 bleiben' ('the interesting first draft of 1776 also had to be disregarded'). It is possible that Gaier assumed this to be the complete 1776 version used by Redlich, although, as will emerge below, there are three unpublished manuscripts dating from 1776, the last of which was used by Redlich. Gaier's use of the term '1. Fassung' ('first draft') is thus at least ambiguous.

Introduction

21

Arguably many of Gaier's notes tend to be banal or patronizing, especially as they are intended for the native speaker of German.9 His chosen point of reference is the Neue Jerusalemer Bibel: Einheitsubersetzung mit dem Kommentar der Jerusalemer Bibel, edited by A. Deissler and A. Vogtle (Freiburg: Herder, 1985). Many of his notes compare Herder's renderings with this version, although without further analysis. Gaier gives no motivation for his (strange) choice. Without documentation, Gaier suggests that Herder used the Greek Septuagint as an aid, although there would appear to be no real internal or external evidence for this. I comment on this claim further in Chapter 6 of this study. Consideration will be given later to Herder's division of the Song of Songs into seven sections. However, as Hugh Barr Nisbet points out in his review of Gaier's edition,10 there is no evidence for Gaier's view (pp. 1204 and 1251) that these divisions underpin Herder's sevenfold mystical hieroglyph theory as set out in his consideration of the first chapter of Genesis in Alteste Urkunde des Menschengeschlechts. In his review, Nisbet claims that Herder's 'translation of, and commentary on, the Song of Songs are [...] admirably elucidated; the depth and originality of his scholarship in this area have never before been so fully explored' (p. 796). On the other hand, it does not explore as deeply or widely—or indeed in the same areas—as this study. Nisbet's comments serve to underline my proposition that no work of any substance had been done before 1990 in the area of Herder's preoccupation with the Song of Songs. Gaier's work is an informative edition—for, laudable as it is, it is no more than that—of a selected part of Herder's 9.

Five examples will suffice:

'Unwillig] Gegen ihren Willen' (p. 1213) ('Unwillingly] against her will'). 'Mit Punktchen Silber gesprengt] Herders dem Text nach richtige Vorstellung scheint, da6 in das Gold der Kette Silberpiinktchen eingelassen sind' (p. 1215). ('Sprinkled with dashes of silver] Herder's notion, which is correct according to the text, seems to be that dashes of silver are worked into the gold of the chain'). 'An Ihm, nicht am Schmucke] Sie denkt an ihn, nicht an Schmuck' (p. 1216) ('Of him rather than jewellery] she thinks about him rather than jewellery'). 'Tadel]Makel, etwas, das zu tadeln ware' (p. 1226) ('Blemish]something to find fault with'). 'Stimmhammer] Gerat, das beim Stimmen von Tasteninstrumenten verwendet wird' (p. 1248) ('Tuning key] tool used to tune keyboard instruments'). 10. Untitled review, MLR 88.3 (1993), pp. 795-99 (796).

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work on the Song of Songs. As such it increases rather than diminishes the need for the present study. The most recent edition of Lieder der Liebe is that by Regine Otto (Zurich: Manesse, 1992). This contains all three parts of the 1778 publication, and the text follows the published version more closely than does that of Gaier, although the use of 'Umlaut' is consistently modernized. A very short 'Nachwort' ('epilogue') completes the edition. Where appropriate, I acknowledge, support or take issue with the above-mentioned writers and editors throughout. For this study I have used Suphan's edition for all Herder references unless otherwise stated. In the light of Der handschriftliche Nachlafi Johann Gottfried Herders in Berlin (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1979), the catalogue of Herder's Nachlaflprepared by Hans Dietrich Irmscher and Emil Adler, Nisbet points out in his review of Gaier that 'the task of preparing a satisfactory critical edition of Herder's complete works seems even more daunting than before, and no such edition is contemplated at present' (p. 795). The Suphan edition, then, is generally regarded as the most authoritative, and I shall show below, for example, that Redlich's reprinting of Lieder der Liebe is reliable.11 Apart from the base texts, other texts by Herder which have been particularly important in the preparation of this study are listed below in chronological order and with the relevant reference in SWS: 1764

Ueber den Fleifi in mehreren gelehrten Sprachen, I, pp. 1-7 and XXX, pp. 7-14.

11. Irmscher too accepts that the historical-critical Suphan edition is the most complete and reliable one available. However, from his cataloguing of Herder's Nachlqfi, he argues that generally SWS is inadequate in many places, and its quality is only high in comparison with other editions available. The edition is complete for those works published in Herder's lifetime, but not for sketches, drafts and fragments written in the early years of his life, to which, of course, Herder's first drafts of Lieder der Liebe belong. Irmscher claims that Emil Gottfried Herder's Lebensbild of 1846 is almost as good in respect of early works. Parts of the text of SWS lack dependability, partly because Suphan never catalogued the manuscripts in the Nachlafi, and partly because he left Berlin in 1887 to become Director of the Goethe-und-Schiller Archiv in Weimar, leaving it to men such as Redlich to edit the remaining volumes. As a result, the coordination of the individual volumes suffered, as did the production of an error-free text. For more detail, see H.D. Irmscher, 'Mitteilungen aus Herders NachlaB', Euphorion: Zeitschrift fiir Literaturgeschichte 54 (1960), pp. 281-94, and B. Suphan, 'Meine Herder-Ausgabe', Revue germanique 3 (1907), pp. 233-40.

Introduction

1764 1765

1766 and 1767 1768 1769 1771

1772 1773 1774 1774 1775 1777 1778 1778 1778 1778 1782

1783 1795 1796

23

Versuch einer Geschichte der lyrischen Dichtkunst, XXXII, pp. 85-140. Versuch einer richtigern Auslegung des Hohenliedes Salomons, worin das Zuverlaftige, Schone und Gottliche dieses H. Bucks gezeigt wird von M. Christian Gottfried Hase. Recension of 18 October in Die Konigsbergschen Gelehrten und Politischen Zeitungen, 83tes Stuck, I, pp. 89-91. Uber die neuere deutsche Litteratur: Eine Beilage zu den Brief en, die neueste Litteratur betreffend, 1. Auflage, I, pp. 131-531. Uber die neuere deutsche Litteratur, 2. Auflage, II, pp. 1-248. Journal meiner Reise im Jahre 1769, IV, pp. 343-461. Die Gedichte Ossians eines alien celtischen Dichters, aus dem Englischen ubersetzt von M. Denis. Recension from Die Allgemeine Deutsche Bibliothek, V, pp. 322-30. Abhandlung Uber den Ursprung der Sprache, V, pp. 1-154. Von deutscher Art und Kunst, V, pp. 159-257. Alte Volkslieder, 1. Theil, XXV, pp. 1-60. Alte Volkslieder, 2. Theil, XXV, pp. 61-126. Ursachen des gesunknen Geschmacks bei den verschiednen Volkern, da er gebliihet, V, pp. 595-655. Von Ahnlichkeit der mittlern englischen und deutschen Dichtkunst, IX, pp. 522-35. Vom Erkennen und Empfinden der menschlichen Seele. Bemerkungen und Trdume, VIII, pp. 165-333. Ueber die Wurkung der Dichtkunst auf die Sitten der Volker in alten und neuen Zeiten, VIII, pp. 334-436. Volkslieder, 1. Theil, XXV, pp. 127-310. Volkslieder, 2. Theil, XXV, pp. 311-645. Vom Geist der Ebrdischen Poesie. Eine Anleitung fiir die Liebhaber derselben, und der dltesten Geschichte des menschlichen Geistes, 1. Theil, XI, pp. 213-466. Vom Geist der Ebrdischen Poesie, 2. Theil, XII, pp. 1-302. Fragment Uber die beste Leitung eines jungen Genies zu den Schdtzen der Dichtkunst, IX, pp. 541-44. Eine Rechenschaft des Uebersetzers, in Terpsichore, 3. Theil, XXVII, pp. 274-82.

24

Paradisal Love The State of the Manuscripts

The research for this study included a study of the various drafts and fragments of Lieder der Liebe in the Staatsbibliothek PreuBischer Kulturbesitz in Berlin, where Herder's Nachlafi is currently housed. The manuscripts are contained in Kapsel VI Konvolute 1-24, 59, 61, and 62, and Kapsel XX Konvolute 120-23, as denoted by Irmscher and Adler in their catalogue (see Der Handschriftliche Nachlqfi, pp. 18-22 and p. 161).121 have proposed the sigla used below:

MS(1) VI 1 contains what appears to be the earliest rejected draft translation and commentary, consisting of 100 manuscript sheets, and henceforth referred to as MS(1).13 It cannot be dated earlier than 1776, since reference is made in it to the work of Friedrich Esaias von Pufendorf which was published that year in Bremen.14 Significantly, the title on the cover originally began 'Die altesten Minnelieder' (The Most Ancient Minnelieder' [Minnelieder were mediaeval love songs]), but Herder crossed out 'Minnelieder' in favour of 'Lieder der Liebe' ('Songs of Love') which he wrote above his deletion. The resulting title is therefore Die altesten Lieder der Liebe. Ein Biblisches Buck ('The Most Ancient Songs of Love. A Biblical Book').

12. In his article 'Probleme der Herder-Forschung', DVjs 37 (1963), pp. 266317, Irmscher describes thus the mass of Herder material (now moved to Berlin from the depository of the PreuBische Staatsbibliothek in the library of the University of Tubingen): 'Das auf 45 Kapseln verteilte Material umfaBt etwa 3200 Stiicke: Manuskripte zu Herders Schriften, ferner Ausziige, Entwiirfe (in zahlreichen Studienbiichern), Abschriften und Nachschriften' ('The material, which is divided into 45 cases, comprises some 3200 items: manuscripts of Herder's writings, as well as extracts, drafts [in numerous notebooks], copies and transcripts'). 13. See SWS, VIII, p. xiv, where Redlich draws attention to the fact that parts of MS(1) are included in VIII, p. 594 n. 1, and VIII, p. 680, note to p. 643. Irmscher argues that these initial attempts in no way mirror the ultimate contents of the first manuscript, but rather reflect the interest of the editor (see 'Probleme der HerderForschung', p. 298). I discuss this further in Chapter 4. 14. The title of the work was Umschreibung des Hohenliedes, oder die Gemeinde mil Christo und den Engeln im Grabe, nebst andern biblischen Erklarungen, and it was edited by Konrad Heinrich Runge. It has proved impossible to trace a copy of the book.

Introduction

25

At the bottom of the title page there is a comment in Herder's hand claiming that 'der alte Minnemann soil hinten an geschoben auch alles noch umgearbeitet werden' ('the ancient minnesinger is to be placed at the end, and everything is to be reworked'), a remark which Herder must have intended for a reader of the manuscript. This would suggest that it was this version that he sent to Goethe, for with a letter to Charlotte von Stein dated Sunday 20 April and Monday 21 April 1777, Goethe sent her 'Herders Hohes Lied und ein paar neuere' ('Herder's Song of Songs and a few more recent items').15 Although Herder's promise here of a revision unquestionably suggests that he did not intend this manuscript for publication, MS(1) clearly shows the extent to which his view that the Song of Songs was a collection of single songs was dependent on the Minnelieder of David Gottfried Schober (1696-1778), a merchant who was also Biirgermeister of Gera (5WS, VIII, p. xiv). In the summer of 1777 Herder had requested the Minnelieder from the library of Friedrich der Weise in Jena. 16 These Minnelieder were a Middle High German translation of the Song of Songs written about 1300 CE. 17 The 44 songs were 15. Julius Petersen (ed.), Briefe an Charlotte von Stein (2 vols.; Leipzig: InselVerlag, 1923), Letter 151, I/I, p. 65. 16. See Herder's letter to Hamann on 20 March 1778, in Otto Hoffmann (ed.), Briefe an Hamann/Herders Briefwechsel mit Nicolai (Berlin: Gaertner, 1889; repr. Hildesheim and New York: Olms, 1975), p. 135. Herder also acknowledged here his debt to Basilius Wiedeburg, who had described the collection of Minnelieder in his Ausfuhrliche Nachricht von einigen alien teutschen poetischen Manuscripten aus dem dreyzehenden und vierzehenden Jahrhunderte welche in der Jenaischen akademischen Bibliothek aufbehalten werden (Jena: Melchiors, 1754). In 1793 Herder further acknowledged his debt in Zerstreute Blatter, where he stated that 'in der Jenaischen Universitatsbibliothek liegt ein nicht unbekannter, schatzbarer Codex, von dem Wiedeburg vor fast vierzig Jahren Nachricht gegeben [...] hat' ('in the library of the University of Jena there is a not unknown, valuable manuscript to which Wiedeburg drew attention almost 40 years ago') (XVI, p. 215). 17. The title page of Herder's copy read: Das Hohelied Salomonis aus zwoen alien deutschen Handschriften, deren Eine in zerschiedenen Stucken deutscher Reime liber dasselbe, die Andere in einer altdeutschen Uebersetzung davon, bestehet; mit vorldufiger Nachricht von diesen beiden Handschriften, und angehdngter kurzen Umschreibung des ersten Cap. des Hohenliedes, dem Drucke tibergeben von D.G.S. Augsburg, verlegt bey Philipp Ludwig Klaffschenkels sel. Wittib. 1752. The work is printed as 'Des Minnesangs Erzvater' ('The Patriarch of Minnesang') in Timm (ed.), Das Hohe Lied Salomos, pp. 15-61. Unlike Herder, Timm has omitted poem 43, believing it to have been included erroneously.

26

Paradisal Love

published ultimately in the third section of Herder's Lieder der Liebe of 1778 (given also in VIII, pp. 559-86). They are certainly appropriate to Herder's reading of the Song of Songs, for he would seem to have ascribed the work to the genre of Minnelied. Although he does not explicitly state this in the text, it is implicitly clear in his choice of title that for him the Song of Songs consisted of 'Lieder der Liebe' ('Songs of Love'). Indeed, as we shall see, in certain of his translations Herder presented the Song of Songs in the form and idiom of the Minnelied. It is clear from Herder's comment on the title page of MS(1) that he intended the mediaeval songs ultimately to form an appendix, but in this draft 41 of the 44 songs form the basis of the work. They are interspersed throughout with commentary and translation attempts of Herder's own.18 They appear in MS(1) in a different order from that given in the 1778 version, and Herder chose to give them German rather than Latin titles.19 In MS(1) they follow the order of Luther's text, whereas Schober's text shows a more arbitrary division. There are many orthographical differences between the two versions of the songs, since in MS(1) Herder chose to modernize the mediaeval text, for example giving 'har' as 'Haar' ('hair'), 'kus' as 'KuB' ('kiss') and 'uf sten' as 'aufstehn' ('arise'). He opted to use the original orthography in his final version, however, doubtless considering that it thus lent his own work more original authority. Herder divided the various translation attempts in MS(1) into 22 sections, each with an arabic number and a title. In the first few sections he reproduced the individual mediaeval version first before attempting a draft of his own. As he became more confident, he began to give his own translation of a section first, followed by the corresponding mediaeval song. Later he occasionally gave his own translation only, preferring to offer groups of as many as nine mediaeval songs together without comment. It is apparent from this progression that Herder was 18. Redlich claimed that the three missing songs are those numbered in the 1778 appendix as 13, 20 and 36 (VIII, p. xiv). However, a study of MS(1) shows that he was not quite correct, for number 13 is used, while number 17 is missing. 19. These do not necessarily correspond. For example, the second song in MS(1), entitled 'Das braune Landmadchen' (literally The brown country girl'), is given in 1778 as song 26 with the title 'Nigra sum sed formosa' ('I am black but beautiful'). Similarly the fourth song in MS(1), entitled 'Liebe im Griinen' ('Love in the countryside'), is given in 1778 as song 37 with the title 'Ecce tu pulcra' ('Behold, you are beautiful').

Introduction

27

moving towards .his goal of placing the mediaeval songs all together at the end, an aim finally achieved in 1778. It is very clear from MS(1) that the mediaeval poems acted as a catalyst for Herder's own work on the Song of Songs, although this draft also demonstrates his growing confidence in his own work as he became more independent of them. Although MS(1) is different from all the other manuscripts, it is closer in essence, presentation and effect to MSS(2) and (3), discussed below, than to the definitive version of 1778. The final part of the introduction is given by Redlich in his reprinting of MS(3) in VIII, pp. 594-95 n. 1. I use relevant examples from MS(1) in Chapters 5 and 6 of this study. MS(2) VI 3 contains a second draft translation and commentary, consisting of 59 manuscript sheets, and henceforth referred to as MS(2). The translation covers the whole of the Song of Songs and is divided into 16 songs, each with a roman number and a title. The draft contains an (incomplete) 'erste Zugabe' ('first supplement'), its numerical designation suggesting that a second was planned. Almost certainly this would have contained the mediaeval text promised in MS(1). Although the commentary is incomplete, MS(2) as a whole is so similar to MS(3) discussed below—indeed, much is identical—that it is surprising that Herder abandoned it in favour of beginning yet again.20 I give relevant examples in Chapters 5 and 6 below. MS(3) VI 6 contains a third draft translation and commentary, a 'Reinschrift' ('final copy') consisting of 72 manuscript sheets, and henceforth referred to as MS(3). It is entitled Lieder der Liebe. Ein Biblisches Buck. Nebst zwo Zugaben ('Songs of Love. A Biblical Book. Including Two Supplements'), although the second appendix is missing. This seems to be the most fixed—or least fluid—version of the translation which Herder in the event did not appear to consider final or appropriate enough for publication. This most definitive of the unpublished drafts represents one of the two main objects of this study, for arguably 20. The introductions in both drafts finish at the same point, and hence Redlich's reprinting of the end of the introduction of MS(1) mentioned above. The commentary of MS (2) roughly corresponds to that of MS (3) up to the end of the first paragraph of VIII, p. 647.

28

Paradisal Love

it supersedes MSS(l) and (2). Moreover, whereas the earlier drafts are not printed anywhere, MS(3) is accessible to the reader of this study, since it is reproduced fully and accurately by Redlich (VIII, pp. 589658), with just minor differences such as in orthography, spacing or punctuation.21 The 1776 translation reproduced in Appendix A below follows exactly that given by Herder in MS(3). For ease of reference, however, quotations from the commentary of MS(3) are from Redlich throughout. After an introduction, Herder's translation follows in 22 sections, each with a roman number and a title. As in the earlier drafts, it is in rhyming verse. Comments on the text follow each song, adding aesthetic illumination to its thought, structure and artistic form. An epilogue follows without warning (VIII, pp. 628-41). The first of the promised appendices, Erlduterung einzelner Stellen des Hohenliedes ('Commentary on Individual Portions of the Song of Songs') (VIII, pp. 642-56), discusses single verses and expressions which concern the climate and customs of the Orient. These comments serve to show how widely read Herder was, especially in travel literature. A 'Nachschrift' ('postscript') contains variant readings of Psalms 45, 72 and 127, and the end of the book of Proverbs, as set out in the published version of 1778. Undoubtedly the second (missing) appendix would have consisted of Schober's Minnelieder as they appear in the third part of the 1778 publication. Calling on Herder's statement in MS(2) that 'die letzte Zugabe enthalt einen Minnesinger' ('the final supplement contains a Minnesinger') (VIII, p. xiv), Redlich too confirmed that 'diese sollte ohne Zweifel aus den Schoberschen Minneliedern bestehen, die im Druckmanuskript ebenfalls fehlen, weil nach seiner eigenhandigen Notiz Herder die Schoberschen Bogen selbst als Druckvorlage geschickt hat' (VIII, p. 658 n. I).22

21. In fact, Redlich also gave the number XVI to poems XVI and XVII, an error not present in MS(3). Irmscher and Adler award the letter A to the reprinting of the manuscript in Redlich, denoting that it was 'vollstandig und dem Inhalt nach genau gedruckt' ('printed in its entirety and, as far as the content goes, accurately') (Der Handschriftliche Nachlqfl, p. xxviii and p. 18). 22. 'Indubitably this was to consist of Schober's Minnelieder which likewise are missing from the printed manuscript, because according to a note in his own hand, Herder himself sent the Schober pages as part of the original copy.'

Introduction

29

MS(a) VI 8 contains the Druckmanuskript of Lieder der Liebe: Die dltesten und schonsten aus Morgenlande. Nebst vier and vierzig alten Minneliedern ('Songs of Love: The Most Ancient and Most Beautiful from the Orient. Including 44 Ancient Minnelieder') (Leipzig: Weygand, 1778), henceforth referred to as MS(a). It consists of pages 1-98 and 103-16, with pages 99-102 missing.23 As already promised in MS(1), MS (a) shows considerable reworking from its predecessors. The first of the three parts, entitled Salomons Hohes Lied, is now the translation itself. Whereas Herder gives a fairly lengthy introduction in MS(3), a motto from Martin Luther is his sole introduction in MS(a).24 He then begins immediately with the first part of his translation, which is now in free verse, with the rhymes of the earlier manuscripts showing through only occasionally. In many places where the text is almost identical, the rhyme or assonance has been intentionally eliminated. The translation is altogether less florid, starker and more minimalist. It is closer to an interlinear translation than are the earlier paraphrases. In Chapter 6 I compare and contrast in detail this translation and that of MS(3). 23. Inside the folder is a sheet dated 4 June 1891 and signed by Redlich to confirm that even then the manuscript was 'vollstandig bis auf S. 99-102' ('complete except for pp. 99-102'). On the front cover of the folder Irmscher has confirmed that '4 Seiten fehlen schon zu Suphans Zeit' ('even in Suphan's time four pages were missing'), a point reiterated on the inside of the folder. These missing pages are given by Redlich in VIII, pp. 552-54, presumably from the published version. (See p. 552 n. 1 for exact references.) 24. 'Hunc librum suscepimus enarrandum, non studio ostentandae eruditionis, sicut quidam qui omnem operam ponunt in obscures libros, quod scilicet et ad laudem ingenii facial, ausum esse ea attingere, quae alii propter obscuritatem fugiunt, et in obscuris cuique liberum sit diuinare, ac speculationibus seu propriis cogitationibus indulgere, sed ut repulsis ineptis opinionibus, quibus hactenus libellus hie obscuratus est, aliam commodiorem sententiam ostenderemus' (see VIII, p. 487). This is taken from the beginning of Luther's Vorlesung iiber das Hohelied. Ian Siggins's English translation reads: 'We take up this book for exposition not from any fondness for display of erudition, like some who lavish every effort upon the obscure books because, of course, on the one hand it provokes praise for their cleverness to have dared address subjects which others flee on account of their obscurity and on the other hand because in the obscure books each of them is freer to make divinations and to indulge in speculations or private musings; rather, we take it up in order that after the absurd opinions which have so far obscured this little book have been rejected, we may demonstrate another, more suitable view' (Pelikan and Lehmann [eds.], Luther's Works, XV, p. 194).

30

Paradisal Love

The songs follow the order of the Song of Songs, but are divided differently from before. The numbers and titles evident in the earlier manuscripts do not figure here. It may be that Herder's ultimate decision not to number or name the songs was in order to stress the thread running through them as well as the arbitrary nature of their division. Indeed, he claimed in MS(3) that 'an Zahl und Ueberschrift liegt nichts' ('number and title are of no consequence') (VIII, p. 628). The second part is the treatise Ueber den Inhalt, die Art und den Zweck dieses Bucks in der Bibel ('On the Contents, Nature and Aim of this Book in the Bible'). The first section corresponds to the 'Vorrede' ('Preface') of MS(3), although the five paragraphs of the latter are expanded to twelve in the 1778 version. The second section contains relatively new material, while the last section corresponds to the epilogue of MS(3). MS (a) does not include the actual Schb'ber text, reprinted by Redlich in VIII, pp. 559-86. Herder stopped on p. 112 of the manuscript after 'Gera' (see VIII, p. 559), made several notes for the printer which were unconnected with the mediaeval text, and continued on p. 113 with the final section of his own commentary, reproduced by Redlich in VIII, pp. 586-88. While Herder wrote all his manuscripts in black ink, in MS (a) the translation per se is marked throughout with a red line down the lefthand side. Stanza divisions are denoted by a short red line between each stanza. MS (a) of Lieder der Liebe was published anonymously by Weygand at the Michaelismesse in Leipzig in 1778, significantly at about the same time as the 1778 version of the Volkslieder. This version, reprinted in 1781, represents the other major object of this study. As with MS(3), it is given accurately and completely by Redlich (VIII, pp. 485588), again with similar very minor exceptions.25 A comparison of MS(a) with the first printing confirms Redlich's view that the publication was fairly free of error, 'abgesehen von den orthographischen Willkurlichkeiten des Weygandschen Korrektors' ('apart from the orthographical arbitrariness of Weygand's proofreader') (VIII, p. xiii).26 One problem—although not serious—is as 25. As with Redlich's printing of MS(3), Irmscher and Adler (Der handschriftliche Nachlafi, p. 18) likewise award the letter A to his reprinting of MS(a) to confirm its accuracy. 26. For example, the published version commences each line with an upper-case

Introduction

31

follows. In MS(a), p. 53, Herder translates with 'Prage mich Bin Siegel' (literally 'stamp me a seal'), adding the numbers 3, 4, 1 and 2 above each of the four words respectively, resulting in the definitive inverted 'ein Siegel prage mich auf dein Herz' (literally 'a seal stamp me upon your heart'). Yet the printing of 1778 has the incorrect word order Trage Ein Siegel', although one of the two corrigenda on the last page (p. 216) acknowledges the error with 'S. 81 Z. 17. Prage Ein Siegel 1. Ein Siegel prage' (literally 'p. 81 line 17. For "stamp a seal" read "a seal stamp"'). Strangely, the second edition of 1781 was not corrected, nor was the appropriate corrigendum appended. Redlich ensured that his printing in SWS, VIII was corrected in this regard, and Regine Otto's edition (Lieder der Liebe, p. 63) likewise follows Herder's version. However, it would appear that both Herder's manuscript alteration and the correction in the published work were missed by Meyer (Werke, p. 79) and Gaier (Lieder der Liebe, p. 478) whose editions have 'prage Ein Siegel mich' (literally 'stamp a seal me').27 The third part (omitted by Herder in MS(a), by Meyer just one year after Redlich's edition, and by Gaier in 1987) is entitled Von Uebersetzungen des Bucks, insonderheit Einer in alten Minneliedern ('Of Translations of the Book, especially One in Ancient Minnelieder'). Herder here reproduced Schober exactly, including very little original material of his own apart from an epilogue. The section closes as the whole work begins, namely with a quotation from Luther.28 Claus V. Bock has made a valid point when he suggests letter, whereas MS(a) is inconsistent, commencing many lines with a lower-case letter. 27. The second of the two 'official' corrigenda is 'S. 57 Z. 12. Naturwiz 1. Naturreiz' ('p. 57 line 12. For "natural wit" read "natural charm" '). Although the change was likewise not made in the 1781 reprint, the word is rendered correctly by Gaier (Lieder der Liebe, p. 463). 28. Significantly Herder omitted that part informing the reader that Luther understood the Song of Songs to be about Solomon's state. This would have interfered with his rejection of an allegorical interpretation. The quotation is taken from the end of Luther'sVorlesung iiber das Hohelied. With the relevant words bracketed, it reads: 'Ad hunc modum ego hunc librum intelligo <de Politia Salomonisx Quodsi erro, veniam meretur primus labor: nam aliorum cogitationes longe plus absurditatis habent' (see SWS, VIII, p. 588). Ian Siggins's English translation reads: 'In this way I understand this book T(ti~)yh> "")$K D'H^n. This alliteration is reproduced in Herder's own transliteration of this line as 'Schir haschirim, ascher lischlomoh' (literally 30. 'In the garden / 1 will wait / for the one who charms me so / with all diligence', VIII, p. 562. 31. 'Come to me, oh love, for your own pleasure. My mouth has honey in it', VIII, p. 564. 32. 'In the north I heard / A tempest arising; / Hail clatters / Heavily onto helmets! / Stones from the clouds / Fly about like dust in the tempest / Fly from the furious storm / Into the eyes of the warriors', Das Hagelwetter, XXV, p. 262. 33. 'I do not wake you all/ To go to the wine store, / Or for the soft cooing of women. / Awake, awake / To fierce battle!', Morgengesang im Kriege, XXV, p. 223. 34. The king harkens / To the word of destiny / Of the electresses, / The beautiful virgins / On high steeds! / Deep in thought they stood there, / Helmeted; / They stood leaning / On the blades of their swords', Konig Hako's Todesgesang, XXV, p. 219.

6. Herder's Translations of the Song of Songs

229

'the song of songs which is to Solomon') in Kapsel VI 24 of the Nachlqfi. Herder tried to emulate abundantly such alliteration and assonance in his translations of the Song of Songs. The effect is frequently produced by repetition of words, especially in MS(3). Examples are: 1776

(a)

(b) 1778

O welche Freuden da an dir! Wir denken an deine Liebe mehr ais Wein und alle Lust: sind froh an dir: die Treuen sind dein! sind dein!35 denn o denn, denn seh ich inn.36

(a)

Erkussemich Mit seines Mundes Klissen: Denn deine Lieb' ist Heblicher, denn Wein. Wie deiner sussen Salben Duft, So ist zerfliessender Balsam Dein Name:37

(b)

Seht mich nicht an, daB ich schwarzlich bin: Mich brannte die Sonne.3

(c)

LaB sehn mich deine Gestalt, LaB deine Stimme mich horen, Denn deine Stimme ist lieblich, Denn deine Gestalt ist schon.39

Examples in Herder's translations of the enjambment common to folk-song as he perceived it are 'Komm wie ein Reh / liber Berg und Thai und Hoh / zu Salome' ('Come like a stag / over mountain and valley and hill / to Salome'), and 'damit die Mutter ihn der Braut / am schonsten seiner Freudentage / nun anvertraut' (literally 'so that the mother him to the bride / on the most wondrous of his days of joy / now may entrust') (1776); and 'Bis daB ich ihn fiihre / Ins Haus meiner Mutter' ('Until I can lead him / Into the house of my mother'), and 'Mein 35. 'Oh, what joys there are in you! We think / of your love more than wine / and all pleasure: are joyful in you: the faithful ones / are yours! are yours!' 36. 'Then, oh then, then I see him.' 37. Literally 'Let him kiss me / With his mouth's kisses: / For your love is lovelier than wine. / Like your sweet ointment's fragrance / Is flowing perfume / Your name.' 38. 'Do not look at me because I am swarthy: / The sun has burned me.' 39. 'Let me see your form, / Let me hear your voice, / For your voice is lovely, / For your form is beautiful.'

230

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Lieber streckte / Die Hand durchs Gitter' ('My lover stretched / His hand through the railing') (1778). Onomatopoeia is exemplified by 'ergriff ('seized'), 'duftet' ('smells sweetly'), 'hauchen' ('whisper softly'), 'quillt' ('flows'), and 'bis die Schatten lang sich ziehn ('until the shadows draw long') (1776); and 'fliichtig'('nimble'), 'jauchzen' ('shout with joy'), and 'aufgeritzt' ('split open') (1778). The whole effect of the MS(3) translation—and indeed those of MSS(l) and (2), whose presentation and effect are similar—is fussier and more elaborate than that of the starker, less florid and more minimalist approach of 1778. Let us consider that section which, in the draft translations, certainly sounds more like a German hunting song than an Oriental poem. In 1778 we read: Faht uns die Fiichse, Die kleinen Fiichse, Die Weinbergverderber, Der Weinberg knospt.4

This is written in free verse, and is dependent on repetition for structuring. In MS(3), and in an almost identical fragment in the Nachlafi (Kapsel VI 59, attributed by Irmscher to 1777), where the song title is 'Scheuchlied der Morgenlander gegen die Yackalls' ('A Song used by the Orientals to Scare Off the Jackals'), we find the eminently freer and more folksy LaBt uns fahn! laBt uns fahn Die Fiichslein dort auf griinem Plan Die den Weinberg uns verderben, DaB die schonsten Bliithen sterben, Junge Bliithen bliihn uns an LaBt uns fahn! laBt uns fahn!41

Of special note are the folk-song tone, the rhyme, the German-patterned metre and the archaic form of 'fangen' ('catch') in both versions, used to produce a primitive effect by following the mediaeval form 'vahen'. Compared with the 1778 version, there is evidence in 1776 of 40. 'Catch for us the foxes, / The little foxes, / The spoilers of the vineyard, / The vineyard is in bud.' 41. 'Let us catch! Let us catch / The little foxes there on the verdant plain / Which spoil the vineyard for us, / So that the most beautiful blossoms die, / Young blossoms flower for us / Let us catch! Let us catch!'

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a more drastic transformation of the original material, on account of the choice of versification. Other examples of the more elaborate tone of MS(3) are 'du fiihrest / in deine Kammer—mich' (literally 'you lead / into your chamber—me'); 'Sonnenschein' ('sunshine') (as opposed to 'Sonne' in 1778); and the emotional Ich schwimm' an ihr in Du'fte Wein in welch ein Meer der Lieb' hinein. Und Liebe liber mir schwebt webt Panier!—42

While primitive folk-poetry does not always scan smoothly, and whereas there is an inconsistent rhythm, and variable line-length, the stanza-length tends to be constant. In his translations of the Song of Songs, Herder adopts varying stanza-lengths, yet his translations still bear the hallmark of primitive folk-song. The following is an example from the Volkslieder which is remarkably similar to the hunting song above in rhythm, line-length, stanza-length, inversion and general effect: LaBt uns tanzen, laBt uns springen! Denn der Wolken schneller Lauf Steht mit dunkelm Morgen auf: Ob sie gleich sind schwarz und triibe, Dennoch tanzen sie mit Liebe Nach der lauen Liifte Singen.43

Herder's unpublished translations are altogether more dramatic than that of 1778, with greater use of orthographic devices such as exclamation marks and inverted commas for speech. Poetic and dramatic characteristics of MS(3) are repetition in phrases such as 'denn o denn, denn seh ich ihn' ('then, oh then, then I see him'), 'hort o horet meinen Schwur' ('hear, oh hear my oath'), and 'laBt uns fahn! laBt uns farm!' ('let us catch! Let us catch!'); the use of the letters A, B and C to denote speakers; the indenting of lines for special dramatic effect; and the 42. Literally 'I swim next to her / in the fragrance of wine / into what a sea of love. / And love over me / hovers / floats / banner!—' 43. 'Let us dance, let us jump! / For the rapid path of the clouds / Arises with the dark morning: / Although they are black and gloomy, / They dance with love / In accordance with the singing of the mild breezes', Tanzlied, XXV, p. 347.

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compulsion of the rhyme, that characteristic of German folk-song—for Herder made a clear attempt to produce occasional rhyme in his drafts, although the published translation suggests a rejection of it. There is no specific pattern as such, however, and in places there is absolutely no attempt at rhyme. Sometimes the rhyme is internal to a line, such as in 'o Konig mir, o mir dir nach' (MS(3)). As Herder's rhyme varies inconsistently, yet appropriately, from poem to poem, it is probably more fitting to consider the rhyme scheme within each of the 22 sections of MS(3) rather than within each particular stanza. The corresponding chapter and verse in Luther's translation are given for ease of reference to parallel passages within Appendices A and B. I (1.2-4). Only the last four lines of this section demonstrate any kind of scheme, and even then it is not clear whether Herder is attempting to rhyme Treuen' ('faithful ones') with 'denken' ('think'). If so, then the rhyme scheme is a b a b. II (1.5-8). In this song and the next, there is an irregular, loose use of couplets. T h e rhyme scheme i s a a b b c d e e d c c f c g h h g i i f j fbkkbkll. III (1.9-14). The scheme here i s a b a b a c c a a d d d d c c . IV (1.15-2.6). There is no rhyme scheme while speakers A and B are in conversation.The final section rhymes as follows: a a b c d e e f f e g g e h i h i h j j h k h , where the dominant sound is '...ich'.

V (2.7). a a b b c c d c d . VI (2.8-14). a a b b c d d d d d , with the dominant sound 'ir' or 'iir'. The next section, the song, rhymes a a b b c c d d c c c d d d a a e e d d f f , where 'sehn' ('see') and 'schon' ('beautiful') rhyme. VII (2.15). This consists of three couplets, a a b b c c. VIII (2.16, 17). a a b b c c d e e e e , where 'Reh' ('doe') and 'Hoh' ('height/hill') rhyme. IX (3.1-4). a b a b c b b b d e b b f f g h i . X (3.5). a a b b c c d c d . Apart from the initial inverted commas, the final exclamation mark and a difference in the placing of commas, this section is exactly the same as section V, whereas the parallel sections in 1778 differ somewhat from each other. XI (3.6). a b c c c. XII (3.7-11). ab ab c c d d e e e f f f g h h g i g. XIII (4.1-5.1). In this long section, Herder makes virtually no attempt to rhyme. The four lines in the second 'stanza' rhyme inasmuch as 'kiihlt' ('cools') and 'spielt' ('plays') are juxtaposed, as do 'Myrrhentiohn' ('hills of myrrh') and 'gehn' ('go/walk'). Otherwise there is no rhyme at all.

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XIV (5.2-6.2). Again, it would appear that any rhyme in this section is

XV XVI XVII

XVIII

XIX

XX XXI

XXII

coincidental. The semi-rhyming of 'Edelstein' ('diamond/precious stone') and 'Elfenbein' ('ivory'), and the hint of a rhyme in 'FuB' ('foot') and 'Libanus' ('Mount Lebanon') are apparent on account of the lack of rhyme elsewhere. (6.3-8). The first four lines demonstrate the scheme a a b b, but thereafter any rhyme disappears. (6.9-12). No rhyme. (7.1-9). No rhyme, although the visual aspect of the poetry is striking, since the second and fourth lines of each four-line stanza are indented. (7.10-8.3). An irregular rhyme scheme re-emerges in this section after the first four-line 'stanza', namely: a a a a b b c c d d. In the rest of this section, Herder relies more on alliteration than rhyme. Examples are 'bist' ('are'), 'Brust' ('breast') and 'gekiiBt' ('kissed') which end consecutive lines, as well as a sprinkling of 'ich' and 'ir' sounds throughout. Further alliteration is found in 'bringen mir in meiner Mutter Haus' (literally 'bring for me into my mother's house'), and 'seine Recht' umarmt mich halt mich' ('his right hand embraces me, holds me'). (8.4). The rhyme scheme is the same as in V and X, namely a a b b c c dcd. (8.5-7). No rhyme. (8.8-12). The first part of this section is divided into speakers A, B and C. Only the middle stanza shows any rhyme scheme, namely a a b c c b , although 'thut' ('does') and 'wahren' ('care for') are each used twice. The final part, which is given a title as if it were a section on its own, demonstrates the rhyme scheme a a b c c b , where the preposition 'an' rhymes with 'Hiitersmann' ('herdsman'), and d d e a d a, where 'Salomon' rhymes with 'Hiiterlohn' ('herdsman's wages'). (8.13, 14). There is no rhyme scheme here in the final five lines of the MS(3) translation.

Having thus flirted with rhyme in MS(3), it is clear that Herder abandoned it for the 1778 translation. While the repeating of rhymes in German folk-poetry is restricted and conventional, any end-rhyme here seems coincidental or intended for special effect. There are several instances of the same word being used to produce an a a or an a b a scheme, for example 'Duff ('fragrance'), 'Fiichse' ('foxes'), 'Mutter' ('mother'), 'mich' ('me') and 'Liebe' ('love'). 'Dich' ('you') and 'mich' ('me') are used in an a a scheme to stress a feeling of belonging and comfort. The same is true of the a b a scheme, traditional to German folk rhyme, produced with 'an dir' ('from you') and 'mit mir' ('with me'). The juxtaposition of 'mein' ('my') and 'sein' ('his')—con-

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ventional German folk-song rhymes—causes the same effect in 'mein Lieber 1st mein / Und ich bin sein' ('my lover is mine / And I am his'), and 'mein Lieber, ich bin sein, / Mein Lieber, er ist mein' ('my lover, I am his, / My lover, he is mine'). The only other end-rhymes in this translation are 'aufstehn' ('arise') and 'gehn' ('go'); 'Koniginnen' ('queens') and 'Bulerinnen' ('rivals'); 'Schwert' ('sword') and 'Kriegsgelehrt' ('warrior'); and 'SiiBigkeiten' ('sweetness') and 'Lieblichkeiten' ('loveliness'). 'Strassen' ('streets') and 'Gassen' ('alleyways') are close to rhyming. After this brief review of Herder's poetic devices and versification, I proceed to a detailed examination of his translations, mainly with an eye to linguistic problems. I shall concentrate primarily on Herder's published translation of 1778, drawing relevant comparisons with the unpublished translation of MS(3), used by Redlich, with the variants in MS(2), with other relevant fragments from Herder's Nachlafi, with Luther's translation of 1545 and with Goethe's translation of 1775, matching them with the original Hebrew text. With the exception of four sets of examples, quotations from the Hebrew are unpointed, as is the case in Herder's own commentaries. Where reference is made to 'both' translations, Herder's translation of 1778 and Luther's translation are intended. Unless otherwise stated, the 1776 translation referred to is that of MS(3). I have adopted Irmscher's system of numbering for the manuscript folders in Kapsel VI of the Nachlafi. I use square brackets to expand Herder's abbreviations where appropriate, and I use angled brackets to denote his deletions. I shall divide my analysis according to Luther's chapter and verse divisions as given in Appendix B, and, as a point of reference throughout, I shall give the relevant passage from Luther's translation. It must be stressed that Herder did not recognize Luther's chapter and verse divisions within his own translations—indeed, his rearrangement of the poetic units is one of the most distinctive things about them—but such a verse-by-verse method will make reference easier. This is the theological model, but it is appropriate for a topic where there is inevitably some overlap between the theological, the linguistic and the literary. I recognize that the drawback of such an enumerative approach is that the points raised by each verse are unevenly distributed and accidental to what each happens to offer. It may also imply—misleadingly—that the unit of translation for Herder was the verse, whereas his metrical stanzas override the single verse as unit; indeed, his unit may sometimes be

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a group of verses. Arguably, however, the thoroughness of a verse-byverse approach, together with the strong theological tradition behind it, as well as the convenience of reference, together form a compelling justification for this procedure. As it is clearly undesirable, if not impossible, to comment on every detail of the translations, this chapter must be necessarily selective. A positivistic-tabular approach is intertwined throughout with the discursive-judgmental material and the overall line of exposition and lengthier argument. The verse-by-verse comments will be followed by a summary of the main points which have emerged. Commentary Luther: Chapter One Das Hohelied Salomo The title in Luther is verse 1, as the first chapter proper begins with verse 2. As Herder divides the 1776 work into sections, each with its own title, he dispenses with a main title. In 1778 he uses 'Salomons Hohes Lied' (literally 'Solomon's High Song'). Neither translator provides a formal-correspondence or word-for-word translation of the Hebrew here (as we have seen, D'TCJn T$ means 'the song of songs' or 'the greatest of songs'), although clearly both provide an acceptable dynamic-equivalence of the opening line. 2

Er kusse mich mit dem Kusse seines Mundes, Denn deine Briiste sind lieblicher denn Wein. Herder already had trouble in reaching a definitive translation of the first part of this verse, as the numerous fragments in the Nachlafi show. The majority of the extant fragments in Kapsel VI of the Nachlaft show repeated attempts to translate in particular the material given in MS(3) as songs I, II and III. The following versions of this verse are extant: Ach kiiBte mich ein KuB von Seinem Munde! (Kapsel VI11) ('Oh, if only a kiss from his mouth were to kiss me!') Er kiiBe mich Mit Kiissen seines Mundes (12) ('Let him kiss me / With kisses of his mouth.') Er kiiBe mich mit seines Mundes KiiBen and

Er kiiBe mich mit Kiissen seines Mundes (13) ('Let him kiss me with his mouth's kisses')

236

Paradisal Love and ('Let him kiss me with kisses of his mouth.') Ach er kiiBe mich mit Kiissen seines Mundes (14) ('Oh, let him kiss me with kisses of his mouth.') Er kiiBe mich mit seines Mundes Kiissen (15) ('Let him kiss me / with his mouth's kisses.') (The split line is not reproduced by Irmscher.) Ach kiiBte mich Bin KuB von s[einem] Munde (16) ('Oh, if only a kiss from h[is] mouth were to kiss me.') Er kiiBe mich mit KiiBen seines Mundes (17) ('Let him kiss me / with kisses of his mouth.') (Herder added the numbers 3, 1 and 2 above each of the last three words respectively, exemplifying an attempt to invert his original rendering.44 This is acknowledged by Irmscher, although he does not split the line appropriately.)

Another inverted attempt reads: O daB er mit Kiissen seines Mundes kUBte mich (17) (Literally 'Oh, that he with kisses of his mouth / were to kiss me.') (Again, Irmscher does not split the line.) Er kuBe mich (24) ('Let him kiss me.') (This rendering stands alone.) Er ku'Be mich mit seines Mundes Kusse (61) ('Let him kiss me with his mouth's kiss.') Er ktiBe mich mit seines Mundes Kiissen (62) ('Let him kiss me / with his mouth's kisses.') (These are two of the five lines in this fragment. They are given as one line only in Irmscher.)

44. For the result ('Seines Mundes KiiBen'—literally 'His mouth's kisses'), cf. Goethe's Gretchen am Spinnrade in Faust (WW, XIV, p. 171), which has: 'Seines Mundes Lacheln' (literally 'His mouth's smile'), 'Seiner Augen Gewalt' (literally 'His eyes' power') and 'Seiner Rede ZauberfluB' (literally 'His speech's spellbinding fluency').

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In the event, Herder finally decided on 'Ah ku'Bte mich Bin KuB von seinem Munde!' ('Oh, if only a kiss from his mouth were to kiss me') in 1776, and 'Er kiisse mich / Mit seines Mundes Kiissen' ('Let him kiss me / With his mouth's kisses') in 1778. In this section, the present subjunctive mood appears both in Luther and in Herder's translation of 1778, although in 1776 Herder uses the imperfect subjunctive 'kiiBte' ('were to kiss'). The subject is 'er' ('he') in both, but it is the kiss itself which is the subject in 1776. Both translators use the genitive 'seines Mundes' ('his mouth's'), while in 1776 Herder uses the preposition with the dative case in 'von seinem Munde' ('from his mouth'). Unlike Luther, and in keeping with his views on primitive poetry noted above, Herder uses inversion in 'mit seines Mundes Ktissen' ('with his mouth's kisses').45 Luther's 'Kusse' ('kiss') is singular, whereas Herder's 'Kiissen' ('kisses/kissing') could be plural, or a gerund. As the Hebrew is the plural mp^DD in the construct state ('with the kisses-of [...]'), it may be assumed that Herder has copied the original correctly. Herder's grammatical ambiguity, however, lends his reading a certain dynamism. Both translators use the comparative 'lieblicher denn Wein' ('lovelier than wine'), although Herder uses 'siiBer' ('sweeter') in 1776 ('lieblicher' ['lovelier'] in MS(2), fol. 7r), when the subject is still the kiss rather than love. Goethe uses 'trefflicher' ('more excellent'). While this is an issue of poetic rendering, the next issue is one of accurate interpretation of the original text. Already we find Herder rejecting Luther in favour of the Hebrew. Whereas Luther translates with 'Briiste' ('breasts'), Herder has 'Lieb" ('love'). Presumably Luther has 'Briiste' on the basis of the Vulgate ('ubera') and the Septuagint ('(j.aaioi') (mis)reading of ~p~n as ^T] (i.e. D^T7! 'breasts' [dual 45. I use the term 'inversion' generically throughout. In fact, Herder used several devices to produce inversion. The example here is one where the archaic genitive results in inversion. Other types of inversion are typified as follows: 'Lieblich stehn in den Spangen deine Wangen' (literally 'charmingly stand between the bangles your cheeks') (Song 1.10), where the intrusion between verb and subject produces an inversion. 'Schon bist du' (literally 'beautiful are you') (Song 1.15), where the subject follows the verb after an emphatic at the beginning of the sentence. The emphatic may be the object, an adjective or an adverb. 'Er hat mich gefiihrt in ein Haus des Weins!' (literally 'he has me led into a house of wine') (Song 2.4), where inversion is caused by irregular word order such as the unusual position of a past participle or other verb form.

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of "R 'breast'] plus suffix), whereas Herder's 'Lieb' is on the basis of the Masoretic text's ^pTJ (i.e. D'TT 'love' [formally plural of ill 'lover'] plus suffix). Herder is apparently closer to the Hebrew, as is Goethe, thus asserting his independence of Luther and the other traditional texts. His rendering may be coloured by his chaste interpretation, but it also demonstrates a thorough awareness of the original text. Indeed, the mediaeval text used by Herder also shows the inaccurate 'Briistlein' (MS(1), fol. 14V) and 'prustlein' ('little breasts') (VIII, p. 561). ^Das man deine gute Salbe rieche, Dein Name ist ein ausgeschiitte Salbe, Darumb lieben dich die Megde. Following the Hebrew more closely, Herder uses the noun 'Duft' ('fragrance') while Luther uses a verb. Herder's plural form of 'Salbe' ('ointment') also follows the Hebrew "pQCJ ('your ointments'). His genitive case produces inversion in 'wie deiner siissen Salben Duft' (literally 'as your sweet ointments' fragrance'). Goethe prefers to use 'Geruch' ('perfume'). As is normal in such constructions, there is no verb in the Hebrew, whereas Luther supplies one in the subjunctive mood. Luther uses 'gut' ('good'), while Herder uses 'suss' ('sweet'), as above. Luther is probably closer to the Hebrew D^DltD ('good', or 'pleasant'). Faithful to the original, Herder inverts with 'so ist zerfliessender Balsam dein Name' (literally 'so is flowing perfume your name'), having elected not to do so in 1776, when he uses the more elaborate clause 'wenn man Dich nennt' ('when one calls you') instead of 'dein Name' ('your name'). While Luther uses 'Salbe' ('ointment') twice, Herder uses 'Balsam' ('perfume'), then 'Salbe'. The Hebrew word p$ ('oil', 'ointment') is used both times, although it is plural in the first instance. Whereas Herder uses the present participle 'zerfliessend' ('flowing'), Luther uses the past participle 'ausgeschiittet' ('poured out'), followed by Goethe with 'ausgegossne' ('spilled/poured out'). At first sight it looks as if all three translators are close to the original, for Hebrew does not have a specifically past participle, but simply a participle, which may be rendered as past, present or future, as the context warrants. However, p~)Ti is not the participle of p"1") in the Hophal (causative passive), but rather the second-person masculine singular imperfect ('you are/will be [caused to be] poured/emptied out'), or even the identically formed third-person feminine singular imperfect; the participle would bepTlQ ('being [having been/yet to be] poured/emptied

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out'), which may have been read or postulated by the Vulgate, the Septuagint, Luther and Goethe. 4

Zeuch mich dir nach, so lauffen wir, Der Konig ftiret mich in seine Kamer, Wir frewen uns, und sind frolich uber dir. Wir gedencken an deine Briiste mehr, denn an den Wein, Die Fromen lieben dich. Throughout his published translation Herder does not use the emotive exclamation mark as much as in 1776, but here he uses one in 'zeuch mich dir nach!' ('draw me after you'). In 1776 he uses the verb 'winken' ('beckon'), but in following Luther's 'zeuch' ('draw') in 1778 he becomes more physical, primitively archaic and direct. In 1776 he follows Luther with 'laufen' ('run'), adding 'Alle' ('all') as a subject. He opts for 'eilen' ('hurry') in 1778, ambiguously omitting 'alle'. He again inverts with 'mich fiihrete der Konig' (literally 'me led the king'), following the inversion of the Hebrew. This literally reads 'he has brought me in, the king, (to) his chambers', with verb-subject-object being the customary Hebrew word order. In 1776 Herder uses the second-person singular in 'du fiihrest in deine Kammer' ('you lead into your chamber'), while in 1778 he follows the original with 'fiihrete der Konig in seine Kammer' ('the king led into his chamber'). The 1776 transposition, producing a more personal translation, is reminiscent of Herder's translation in the last stanza of Weg der Liebe in his Volkslieder (XXV, p. 360), where he transforms the third-person singular of the English to the first and second.46 In fact, such a change from one grammatical person to another is a further peculiarity of Hebrew poetry (see Song 1.2, for example), and it is exploited by Herder here. He uses two verbs, 'jauchzen' ('shout with joy') and 'erfreun' ('rejoice'), while Luther uses a verb and then the adjective 'frolich' ('joyful'). In 1776 he uses the noun 'Freuden' ('joys') rather than a verb. While in 1776 his 'an dir' ('to you') is closer to Luther's 'uber dir' ('over you'), he uses the poetic genitive 'dein' ('yours') in 1778. He omits the pronoun 'wir' ('we') and allows 'gedenken' ('remember') (as in Luther and MS(2), fol. 7r, although he uses 'denken' ['think'] in MS(3)) to follow on from the previous sentence. He again uses 'Liebe' ('love') for the Hebrew plural, while Luther (wrongly) uses 'Brtiste' ('breasts'), as noted above. He follows the original inversion with 'von Herzen lieben wir dich' (literally 'from our hearts love we you'), although incorrectly he uses 46. See Schumacher, 'Herder's Treatment of his English Sources in the Volkslieder', p. 133.

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the first-person plural, since "jniTK is the masculine third-person plural with a suffix ('they love/have loved you'). The noun D^ISTD means 'uprightness', or 'the upright ones', but it is used adverbially by Herder to mean 'rightly'. In 1776 he uses the third person with 'die Treuen sind Dein! sind Dein!' ('the faithful ones are yours! are yours!'), using repetition for poetic effect. Goethe follows Luther's 'Kammer' ('chamber'). 5

Ich bin Schwartz, Aber gar lieblich, jr Tochter Jerusalem, wie die hutten Kedar, wie die teppiche Salomo. The Nachlafi shows how undecided Herder was here too. MS(1) has 'schwarz bin ich und doch angenehm / Ihr Tochter von Jerusalem!' ('I am black and yet pleasant / You daughters of Jerusalem'), while MS(2) has 'schwarz und doch ihm angenehm / Ihr Schonen von Jerusalem' ('black and yet pleasant to him / You beautiful women of Jerusalem'). As expected, this is identical to MS(3), except for an exclamation mark at the end. Additionally, Kapsel VI of the Nachlaft contains fragments with the following versions: Schwarz und doch ihm angenehm (as in MS(3)) (11) ('Black and yet pleasant to him.') Schwarz bin ich und doch lieblich (as in MS(a)) (12) ('I am black and yet lovely.') Bin schwarz und doch bin ich schon (14) ('Am black and yet I am beautiful.') Schwarz und doch ihm angenehm (16) ('Black and yet pleasant to him.') Schwarzbraunes Madchen, die bin ich! (18) ('Dark brown girl, that I am!') Ein braunes Madchen, die bin ich! (21) ('A brown girl, that I am!') Schwarz bin ich und doch bin ich schon (24) ('I am black and yet I am beautiful.') Schwarz bin ich und doch auch werth (61) ('I am black and yet also worthy.') (This variant was apparently missed by Irmscher.)

Herder's title for this section was 'Das braune Landmadchen' (The Brown Country Girl') in MS(1), fol. 15V, and 'Das braune Madchen' (The Brown Girl') in MS(2), fol. 7 V . Although ultimately rejected, these titles underscore his approach to the Song of Songs as folk-song,

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for they may be compared with the title Das nufibraune Madchen ('The Nutbrown Girl') which he gave to his translation of a Scottish ballad (VL, XXV, pp. 415-20).47 The fragment in (11) shows that the later title of this section in MS(3), namely 'Liebe in Armuth' ('Love in Poverty'), was originally 'Die braune Siegerin' (The Brown Conqueress'), although the rest of the passage is identical to MS(3) as far as 'der Mein' ist hin' ('my [vineyard] has gone'). Herder's leap from victory to poverty is an acknowledgment of his reading of the work as one of innocent humility, and contrasts with Marcia Falk's view in 1982 that the passage here is 'a statement of self-affirmation and pride'.48 In 1776 Herder does not invert, but follows the lack of a verb in the original by translating with 'schwarz und doch ihm angenehm' ('black and yet pleasant to him') (as in [16]). In 1778, he follows the Hebrew by inverting with 'schwarz bin ich und doch lieblich' ('I am black and yet lovely') (as in [12]). However, there is a problem presented by the Hebrew word 1, which can mean either 'and' or 'but', and so this phrase may carry a judgment suggesting beauty because of rather than despite dark skin. In every translation attempt except for those in (18) and (21), where the key 'doch' ('yet') is not present, Herder adopts the latter reading with 'und doch' ('and yet'), and in the context of the burning sun, Herder and Luther are arguably both correct in interpreting it as such. Indeed, most older translations follow this reading, although it is important to note Falk's claim that 'the woman's assertion of her blackness is affirmative, not apologetic'.49 This conviction is supported by her own proudly affirmative translation: 'Yes, I am black! and radiant—'50 Yet Herder's ambivalent views on black races suggest that in his choice he may have been influenced by his own cultural background in his apparent belief that blackness and beauty were mutually exclusive. George Wells points out that in Herder's age the original whiteness of man was taken for granted,51 and indeed Herder claimed that 'em 47. 'Braun' ('brown') and 'nuBbraun' ('nut-brown') indicate Herder's recognition of 'nut-brown' as a safe, conventional English/Scottish folk-song formula. 48. Love Lyrics from the Bible, p. 110. More recently, Jill M. Munro has taken issue with Falk's view in Spikenard and Saffron: A Study in the Poetic Language of the Song of Songs (JSOTSup, 203; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995), pp. 37-38. 49. Love Lyrics from the Bible, p. 110. 50. Love Lyrics from the Bible, p. 13. 51. See Herder and After: A Study in the Development of Sociology (Anglica

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Negerkind wird weiB gebohren' ('a negro child is born white') (IP, XIII, p. 235. Cf. p. 277). He regarded the white races as better fitted for intellectual activity, while the black races were more sensually aware: 'Die feinere Geistigkeit, die dem Geschopf unter dieser gliihenden Sonne, in dieser von Leidenschaften kochenden Brust versagt werden muste, ward ihm durch einen Fibernbau, der an jene Gefiihle nicht denken lieB, erstattet' (IP, XIII, p. 236).52 And yet it is important to note that Herder's views were also enlightened and sympathetic, although condescending: 'Lasset uns also den Neger [...] bedauern, aber nicht verachten. [...] Was sollte ihm das qualende Gefiihl hoherer Freuden, fur die er nicht gemacht war?' (IP, XIII, p. 236).53 The 'Weimar Bible' of 1768, referred to above, intersperses Luther's translation with allegorical explanation. As if to underline the racial bias inherent in the translation, the comment on this verse reads: 7c/z bin schwartz (ungestalt und unansehnlich, dem ausserlichen Zustande nach, nemlich wegen der angeerbten Siinde und bosen Lust, Rom. 5 v.12, Galat. 5 v.17).'54 In Herder's choice of 'und doch' ('and yet'), we have an example of what ideological freight can be carried by a probGermanica: British Studies in Germanic Languages and Literatures, 1; 'S-Gravenhage: Mouton, 1959), p. 48. 52. 'The more refined intellectual strength which had to be denied this creature beneath this tropical sun, in this breast burning with passion, was replaced by a physiological make-up which did not permit him to think of such feelings.' 53. 'Thus let us [...] pity the negro, but not despise him. [...] What would be the point of the tormenting feeling of higher joys for which he was not made?' See also Ingeborg Solbrig, 'Herder and the "Harlem Renaissance" of Black Culture in America: The Case of the "Neger-Idyllen" ', in Kurt Mueller-Vollmer (ed.), Herder Today: Contributions from the International Herder Conference, Nov. 5—8, 1987, Stanford, California (Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 1990), pp. 402-14; and John Boening 'Herder and the White Man's Burden: The Ideen zur Philosophic der Geschichte der Menschheit and the Shaping of British Colonial Policy', in Wulf Koepke (ed.), Johann Gottfried Herder: Language, History, and the Enlightenment (Studies in German Literature, Linguistics, and Culture, 52; Columbia, SC: Camden House, 1990), pp. 236-45. 54. 7 am black (deformed and plain, as far as her external appearance goes, on account of inherited sin and wicked desire, Rom. 5.12, Gal. 5.17).' The Red Letter Bible (London: Collins, 1903) produces much of the Song of Songs (KJV) in red type, interpreting the work largely as an allegorical prophecy concerning Christ. Each section has a subheading, and the one for this verse still shows a similarly prejudiced view to that of a century and a half earlier: 'She [the Church] confesses her deformity.'

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lem of philology. The translator's choice implies an ideological position, although clearly the black issue is closer to the surface and more politically acute today than it was in Herder's time. Herder uses the genitive to create inversion in 'wie der Kedarenen Gezelte' ('like the tents of Kedar'). Goethe follows Luther's 'Hiitten' ('huts'), while Herder uses 'Zelte' ('tents') in 1776 and 'Gezelte' ('pavilions') in 1778. The word translated by Herder as 'Decken' ('awnings') and by Luther as 'Teppiche' ('tapestries') is the Hebrew word for tentcurtains. Similarly, Goethe follows Luther with 'Teppiche', while Herder uses 'Decken' in both translations. In this verse, then, Herder is arguably closer to the original, and thus more exotic and Oriental, whereas Luther and Goethe are more Germanic. 6

Sehet mich nicht an, Das ich so schwartz bin, denn die Sonne hat mich so verbrand. Meiner mutter Kinder zurnen mit mir, Man hat mich zur Huterin der Weinberge gesetzt, Aber meinen Weinberg den ich hatte, habe ich nicht behiitet. Herder uses the imperative 'sent mich nicht an' ('do not look at me') in 1778, whereas in 1776 he uses twice the interrogative 'was schau(e)t ihr?' ('what are you looking at?'). Luther introduces the word 'so', presumably to temper the phrase, and he is followed by Herder in 1776, but not in 1778, where 'schwarzlich' ('swarthy') stands alone. Like Goethe, in 1776 Herder uses 'verbrannt' ('burned'), again closer to Luther in 1776 than 1778. Herder also omits any conjunction, in line with the original, when he translates with 'mich brannte die Sonne' ('the sun has burned me') (he uses the fussier 'Sonnenschein' ['sunshine'] in 1776, undoubtedly to ensure a rhyme with 'mein'). In both translations he uses the imperfect, while Luther uses the perfect. Both may be inferred from the original. Unlike Luther, but like the Hebrew, Herder avoids inversion in 1778 with 'Sohne meiner Mutter' ('sons of my mother'), being less accurate to the Hebrew, but also less sexist, with 'Briider' ('brothers') and 'Schwestern' ('sisters') in 1776. Herder's use of the imperfect in 'ziirneten' ('were angry with') is closer to the Hebrew than Luther's (historic?) present. Using an archaic form of the verb—presumably to connote primitivity—Herder inverts with 'sie satzten zur Weinberghiiterin mich' ('they set me up as a guardian of the vineyard[s]'), using the imperfect tense, although he is closer to the original when he does not invert in 1776. Luther uses the perfect and does not invert. In 1776 Herder follows Luther with 'Huterin der

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Trauben' ('protector of the grapes'), but his compound 'Weinberghuterin ('guardian of the vineyard[s]') in 1778 is closer to the original construct chain D^QIDiTntf ill!!)] ('keeper of the vineyards'). In Hebrew, when two or more words are so closely connected that they represent a compound idea rather like a German compound noun, the dependent word is in the construct state, while the word in the absolute state upon which the construct depends is in the genitive. Given that the meaning demands that the words be inextricably linked as in a German compound, Herder's translation is closer to the original than any English translation could be. The Hebrew stresses the possessive adjective by stating literally 'my vineyard, which is to me'. This is brought out in Luther by his use of the relative clause to stress possession, while in 1778 Herder repeats 'meinen' ('my') to produce the same effect. In 1776 he chooses not to use any stress. Herder again uses the imperfect in 'hiitet" ('protected'), while Luther uses the perfect. In 1776 Herder underlines the reason for the woman's neglect of her own vineyard in the line 'ihren Reichthum hiitet' ich' (T protected her wealth'). This is a further example of an addition to the sense of the original, and it is omitted in the truer translation of 1778. 1

Sage mir an du, den meine Seele liebet, Wo du weidest, wo du rugest im mittage? Das ich nicht hin und her gehen miisse, bey den Herden deiner Gesellen. Luther uses indirect speech in the first sentence here, albeit with a question mark at the end. Herder is closer to the original with his direct questions. His elliptical 'den meine Seele liebt' ('[the one] whom my soul loves') follows Luther, but also adopts the same construction as that used in the Hebrew. In 1776 Herder mistakes the subject in 'der meine Seel' entziickt' ('[the one] who delights my soul') ('der meine Seele liebt' ('[the one] who loves my soul') has been deleted in MS(3)). In 1776 Herder uses 'ruhen' ('rest') in line with Luther's 'rugen', although his use of 'lagern' ('lie down') in 1778 is closer to the original jO~) ('lie down' or 'recline'), and further from Luther. In 1778 Herder is more succinct in following the Hebrew with 'am Mittag" ('at midday') than he is in 1776 with his more poetic clause 'wenn Mittag driickt' (literally 'when midday presses'). Once more the 1778 translation is more precise and concise than that of 1776. Luther omits any reference to the beloved being like a veiled woman, as does Herder in

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1776 when he indulges in poetic licence with 'ich irr' auf alien Triften umher, und athme schwer, find' immer andre, nur nicht Dich den meine Seele liebt' ('I wander around in every pasture and breathe heavily, always finding others, but not you whom my soul loves'). In 1778 Herder follows the original iTCDID (feminine, 'as one veiled') with 'wie eine Verhiillete' (literally 'like a veiled woman'). Luther uses 'hin und her' ('here and there') which is not given in the Hebrew, but, more correctly than Herder's 'zu' ('to'), translates ^D with 'bey' ('beside/ near/among'). Following the Hebrew, Herder avoids inversion with the genitive 'deiner Gespielen' ('of your playfellows'). Goethe follows Luther with 'an den Heerden deiner Gesellen' ('near the flocks of your companions'). ^Kennestu dich nicht, du schoneste unter den Weibern, So gehe hin aus aujf die fusstapffen der Schafe, und weide deine Bocke bey den Hirten heusern. It is normal in Hebrew for the person to be denoted by the form of the verb rather like Latin or Greek, but here a pronoun is used for emphasis. Luther uses 'dich' ('you') as an emphatic pronoun rather than a reflexive pronoun, following the Hebrew construction. Herder omits such emphasis. Luther correctly uses the superlative 'schoneste' ('most beautiful'), copied by Herder in 1778 (where he also follows Luther's 'Weiber' ['women']), but missed in 1776 where he uses 'schones' ('beautiful'). Where Luther has 'Schafe' ('sheep'), Herder uses 'Heerde' ('flock'). The Hebrew word ]NK means either 'sheep' or 'flock (of sheep)', so both translations would appear to be equally accurate alternatives. Neither translator renders the emphatic pronoun ~[^, as done previously. Goethe is close to Luther with 'Tapfen' ('footsteps'). The Hebrew "]